scholarly journals Influence of Phase-Change Materials on Thermo-Physiological Comfort in Warm Environment

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damjana Celcar

The purpose of this research work is to investigate the influence of phase-change materials (PCMs) on thermo-physiological comfort of different male business clothing systems evaluated in warm environment. The impact of particular business clothing on the thermo-physiological comfort of the wearer during different physical activity and environmental conditions (between 25°C and 10°C with step of 5°C), artificially created in a climate chamber, was determined experimentally, as a change of three physiological parameters of a human being: mean skin temperature, heart rate, and the amount of evaporated and condensed sweat. A questionnaire and an assessment scale were also used before, during, and after each experiment in order to evaluate the wearer’s subjective feeling of comfort. The results of the performed research work show that male business clothing systems in combination with PCMs do not affect the thermal-physiological comfort of the wearer in warm environment significantly, except at an ambient temperature of 15°C, where clothing systems in combination with PCMs produce a small heating effect. Furthermore, it was concluded that clothing systems in combination with PCMs indicate a small temporary thermal effect that is reflected in a slight rising or lowering of mean skin temperature during activity changes.

Author(s):  
Damjana Celcar

In this study, the thermal comfort of clothing was subjectively evaluated in cold environmental conditions. Different male business clothing systems, made of standard textiles (wool and wool-mixture), and materials that contain phase-change materials (PCMs), were developed. The research was performed with the help of test subjects in a computer controlled climatic chamber, in artificially created cold environmental conditions, at ambient temperatures of 10 °C, 5 °C and 0 °C, and with physical activity that is as reminiscent as possible of the real life situation of wearing clothes, such as sitting and walking on a treadmill. The impact of particular business clothing systems and varied cold environmental conditions on the wearer’s subjective feeling of thermal comfort was determined with a questionnaire and an assessment scale of thermal comfort defined by standard ISO 10551:2004. For this purpose, an analysis of the subjective evaluation of thermal comfort, the desired thermal state, the acceptability of the current situation and their personal tolerance of the environment, was made before, during and after each experiment. The results of the research show that subjective evaluations of thermal comfort directly depend on environmental conditions, as well as clothing systems. From this subjective evaluation it can be seen that in spite of lower mean skin temperatures the test subjects felt comfortable at an ambient temperature of 10 °C. It is also evident that the analysed clothing systems are not suitable for wearing below an ambient temperature of 0 °C, because the test subjects felt uncomfortable.


2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damjana Celcar

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the thermo-physiological comfort of male business garments made of common textiles, as well as business clothing that contains phase change materials (PCMs) as a lining or outerwear material. In view of the fact that people wear business clothing throughout the whole day in different environmental conditions, this study investigate the effect of PCMs incorporated in male business clothing systems on the thermo-physiological comfort of the wearer under different cold environmental conditions. Design/methodology/approach The influence of particular business garments on the thermo-physiological comfort of the wearer during different physical activities and cold environmental temperatures was determined experimentally with the help of study participants, as a change of two physiological parameters: mean skin temperature and heart rate. A questionnaire and an assessment scale were also used in order to evaluate the wearer’s subjective feeling of comfort. In this investigation, all tests with study participants were performed under artificially created environmental conditions in a climate chamber at different cold environmental temperatures ranging from 10°C to −5°C with increments of 5°C, and different physical activities that simulate as closely as possible real life activities such as sitting and walking. Findings The results of the performed research work show that PCMs provide a small temporary thermal effect that is reflected in small increases or decreases in mean skin temperature during changes in activity. Furthermore, it was concluded that the small effect of PCMs in business clothing systems on the thermo-physiological comfort of the wearer in a cold environment, which is shown as a change of mean skin temperature when subjects walk on a treadmill and subsequently move to a sitting position, should not be ignored in a cold environment where low skin temperatures were measured. Practical implications The results of this study demonstrate that the physiological parameters of thermo-physiological comfort, in combination with subjective evaluation, provide valuable information for textile and clothing manufactures as well as scientists and engineers involved in the design and development of new products with thermal comfort as a quality criterion. Originality/value The investigation shows that different environmental conditions, activity levels and thermal properties of clothing systems have a considerable impact on the physiological parameters of the subjects and subjective assessment of thermal comfort in a cold environment, and that PCMs incorporated in business clothing systems provide a small temporary thermal effect that is reflected in small increases or decreases in mean skin temperature during changes in activity, such as when subjects walk on a treadmill and subsequently move to a sitting position.


Author(s):  
Mohammed H. Sheikh ◽  
Muhammad A. R. Sharif

Phase change materials (PCM) are used in many energy storage applications. Energy is stored (latent heat of fusion) by melting the PCM and is released during resolidification. Dispersing highly conductive nanoparticles into the PCM enhances the effective thermal conductivity of the PCM, which in turn significantly improves the energy storage capability of the PCM. The resulting colloidal mixture with the nanoparticles in suspension is referred to as nanostructure enhanced phase change materials (NEPCM). A commonly used PCM for energy storage application is the family of paraffin (CnH2n+2). Mixing copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles in the paraffin produces an effective and highly efficient NEPCM for energy storage. However, after long term application cycles, the efficiency of the NEPCM may deteriorate and it may need replacement with fresh supply. Disposal of the used NEPCM containing the nanoparticles is a matter of concern. Used NEPCM containing nanoparticles cannot be discarded directly into the environment because of various short term health hazards for humans and all living beings and unidentified long term environmental and health hazards due to nanoparticles. This problem will be considerable when widespread use of NEPCM will be practiced. It is thus important to develop technologies to separate the nanoparticles before the disposal of the NEPCM. The primary objective of this research work is to develop methods for the separation and reclamation of the nanoparticles from the NEPCM before its disposal. The goal is to find, design, test, and evaluate separation methods which are simple, safe, and economical. The specific NEPCM considered in this study is a colloidal mixture of dodecane (C12H26) and CuO nanoparticles (1–5% mass fraction and 5–15 nm size distribution). The nanoparticles are coated with a surfactant or stabilizing ligands for suspension stability in the mixture for a long period of time. Various methods for separating the nanoparticles from the NEPCM are explored. The identified methods include: (i) distillation under atmospheric and reduced pressure, (ii) mixing with alcohol mixture solvent, and (iii) high speed centrifugation. These different nanoparticle separation methods have been pursued and tested, and the results are analyzed and presented in this article.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omar Siddiqui

The applicability of utilizing a variety of thermal mass including phase change materials with commonly used building materials is investigated through the use of simulations and physical testing. The thermal performance and occupant comfort potential of a novel solid-solid phase change material, known as Dal HSM, is compared and contrasted to commonly available forms of thermal mass. Detailed experimentation is conducted to successfully integrate Dal HSM with gypsum and concrete. The measurement of physical characteristics such as compressive strength and modulus of rupture is conducted to ensure that the PCM-composite compound retains the structural integrity to be utilized in a typical building. The use of thermal mass in the Toronto Net Zero house was found to contribute to energy savings of 10-15% when different types of thermal mass were used. The comfort level of the indoor occupants was also found to increase. The performance of Dal HSM was found to be comparable to a commercially available PCM known as Micronal in the heating mode. The cooling mode revealed that Dal HSM provided slightly lower energy savings when compared to Micronal due to a lower phase transition temperature and latent heat. The performance of physical test revealed a decrease in the compressive strength as the concentration of Dal HSM was increased in the PCM-gypsum specimens. Tests were also performed to analyze the impact of increasing the PCM concentration on the flexural strength of PCM-gypsum composite.


Nanomaterials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadezhda S. Bondareva ◽  
Nikita S. Gibanov ◽  
Mikhail A. Sheremet

The cooling of electronic elements is one of the most important problems in the development of architecture in electronic technology. One promising developing cooling method is heat sinks based on the phase change materials (PCMs) enhanced by nano-sized solid particles. In this paper, the influence of the PCM’s physical properties and the concentration of nanoparticles on heat and mass transfer inside a closed radiator with fins, in the presence of a source of constant volumetric heat generation, is analyzed. The conjugate problem of nano-enhanced phase change materials (NePCMs) melting is considered, taking into account natural convection in the melt under the impact of the external convective cooling. A two-dimensional problem is formulated in the non-primitive variables, such as stream function and vorticity. A single-phase nano-liquid model is employed to describe the transport within NePCMs.


Author(s):  
Levi J. Elston

The ever-increasing power throughput and ever-decreasing size of modern electronics, specifically power electronics, requires more advanced packaging techniques and materials to maintain thermal limits and sustain mechanical life. Specific applications with known operating conditions for these components can realize added benefits through a tailored thermal-mechanical-electrical optimized assembly, potentially utilizing niche material classes. Without losing any expected functionality, solid-liquid phase change materials could be incorporated into the device structure to reduce peak temperature and/or suppress high-cycle fatigue problems commonly found at die-attachment interfaces. The purpose of this study was to investigate, through model-based design and analysis, the impact of using organic phase-change materials (PCMs) at two strategic locations in the standard device stack. The results suggest noteworthy life improvement (40%) is possible when optimizing for a given melt point material. Additionally, further improvements were predicted through future material enhancements, namely thermal conductivity and latent heat.


2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (16-19) ◽  
pp. 1744102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kai Yang ◽  
Mingli Jiao ◽  
Yuanyuan Yu ◽  
Xueying Zhu ◽  
Rangtong Liu ◽  
...  

Phase change material (PCM) is increasingly being applied in the manufacturing of functional thermo-regulated textiles and garments. This paper investigated the thermal buffering performance of different composite PCMs which are suitable for the application in functional low-temperature protective garments. First, according to the criteria selecting PCM for functional textiles/garments, three kinds of pure PCM were selected as samples, which were [Formula: see text]-hexadecane, [Formula: see text]-octadecane and [Formula: see text]-eicosane. To get the adjustable phase change temperature range and higher phase change enthalpy, three kinds of composite PCM were prepared using the above pure PCM. To evaluate the thermal buffering performance of different composite PCM samples, the simulated low-temperature experiments were performed in the climate chamber, and the skin temperature variation curves in three different low temperature conditions were obtained. Finally composite PCM samples’ thermal buffering time, thermal buffering capacity and thermal buffering efficiency were calculated. Results show that the comprehensive thermal buffering performance of [Formula: see text]-octadecane and [Formula: see text]-eicosane composite PCM is the best.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (19) ◽  
pp. 9166
Author(s):  
Anna Zastawna-Rumin ◽  
Katarzyna Nowak

The use of phase change materials (PCM) in different building applications is a hot topic in today’s research and development activities. Numerous experimental tests confirmed that the hysteresis of the phase change process has a noticeable effect on heat accumulation in PCM. The authors are trying to answer the question of whether the neglecting of hysteresis or the impact of the speed of phase transformation processes reduce the accuracy of the simulation. The analysis was performed for a model building, created to validate the energy calculations. It was also important to conduct simulations for the polish climatic conditions. The calculations were conducted for three variants of materials. In addition, in the case of models containing layers with PCM, calculations were made both taking into account, as well as excluding material hysteresis in the calculations. In the analyzed examples, after taking into account hysteresis in the calculations, the period of time when surface temperature is below the phase change temperature of the materials decreased by 10.6% and 29.4% between 01 June to 30 September, for the options with PCM boards and Dupont boards, respectively. Significant differences in surface temperature were also observed. The effects of neglecting, even relatively small hysteresis, in the calculations are noticeable and can lead to significant errors in the calculation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2116 (1) ◽  
pp. 012115
Author(s):  
T Swoboda ◽  
K Klinar ◽  
A Kitanovski ◽  
M Muñoz Rojo

Abstract Thermal diodes are devices that allow heat to flow preferentially in one direction. This unique thermal management capability has attracted attention in various applications, like electronics, sensors, energy conversion or space applications, among others. Despite their interest, the development of efficient thermal diodes remains still a challenge. In this paper, we report a scalable and adjustable thermal diode based on a multilayer structure that consists of a combination of phase change and phase invariant materials. We applied a parametric sweep in order to find the optimum conditions to maximize the thermal rectification ratio. Our simulations predicted a maximum thermal rectification ratio of ~20%. To evaluate the impact of these devices in real applications, we theoretically analysed the performance of a magnetocaloric refrigerating device that integrates this thermal diode. The results showed a 0.18 K temperature span between the heat source and the heat sink at an operating frequency of 25 Hz.


Author(s):  
Kieran Hess ◽  
Amy S. Fleischer

The use of nanoparticles to improve the thermal properties of low thermal conductivity phase change materials is of significant interest. However, the addition of nanoparticles to a base fluid is known to result in an increase in viscosity. An increase in viscosity can suppress convective currents, reducing overall heat transfer thus it necessary to quantify the impact of nanoparticle addition on the viscosity of a PCM. In this work nanoparticle enhanced phase change mateirals are synthesized using paraffin and three different types of nanoparticles: exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets (xGNP), multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) and herringbone graphite nanofibers (HGNF). The particles are loaded at rates between 0.0024wt% to 0.1wt%. The viscosity is analyzed at temperatures between 60 and 100°C. The influence of temperature, nanoparticle type and nanoparticle loading level on viscosity are presented and discussed. The results show that for xGNP and HGNF within the operating condition studied here that there is no impact of the nanoparticle addition on the viscosity of the base material. However, the addition of MWCNT is found to increase the viscosity of the base fluid with the impact increasing with loading level.


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